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Research

Research Introduction

My campaign for Maxcy works with increasing the residence hall’s online presence and internal

communications. To do this, I am using online resources like Eventbrite, Hootsuite, Instagram,

Facebook and Twitter along with physical resources like the building’s whiteboard and glass

calendar. I’m incorporating social media not only to enhance the community’s online presence,

but to increase the quality of the content posted online.

My campaign also works to document what goes on in the building and to show what makes the

community what it is. On top of establishing the online presence, I plan to work on how I can

communicate well to the various audiences in and out of the building. The main audiences that I

have identified are the international and domestic residents in the building, prospective domestic

and international students, the Study Abroad Office, International Student Services and students

interested in international relations or going abroad. Most of my campaign focuses on the

internal audiences but I listed all these audiences to have an overarching view of the people that

are most likely to see and interact with the content posted online.

Personal Involvement

I am a resident mentor at Maxcy and have lived in the residence hall since freshman year. The

building has been around for decades but the international community has only been around for

four years. Because of this, the community has not had much time to establish itself online. No

one has done public relations work for the community before, so on top of my leadership

position in the building, I am doing this campaign to help the community with its messaging and

branding to push it to new heights as it continues to grow.

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Secondary Research

Most of my secondary research contains information I gathered from the residence hall’s website

and social media channels. The website is under University Housing and the social media

accounts I viewed are the Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. All of these accounts have

been around for a little over a year. The website and social media accounts are important to

analyze for this campaign because they are used in the messaging strategy both internally and

externally.

Primary Research

After completing my secondary research in January, I saw the need to gather information about

residents’ media use by primary research. One thing my campaign works on is internal

communications. Internal communications is important to the Maxcy leadership staff because

they want to assess what online channels residents are checking most to tailor messages to them.

I chose to distribute a questionnaire on Google Forms. Fifty-three residents completed the

questionnaire. This method allowed me to gain perspectives from domestic and international

students in the building.

To get students to complete the questionnaire, I went on Blackboard and emailed all the residents

in the building. There is a Maxcy section on the site that enables me to email all the residents. On

top of the email, I posted the link to the questionnaire on the community’s Facebook group and

pinned it to the top of the Twitter account.

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Secondary Research Findings

The useful information I obtained from the website described what the residence hall is as well

as the mission and vision statements (Appendix A). This information is something I incorporate

in my communications plan. There are still several things that need to be updated on the website.

Included in my communications plan is a critique of the website with some suggested

improvements to make it more effective in illustrating what makes the residence hall what it is.

Social Media Analysis

Maxcy has three social media platforms which are Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. The

Facebook account is internal because it’s a group page. The social media used the most are the

Facebook and Twitter accounts. There are duplicate pages on both accounts. For Facebook there

is one Facebook group for the 2014 – 2015 year and the current one which is the 2015 – 2016

year. On Twitter there is another Maxcy account that was created three years ago but has not

been updated since then.

For the Instagram account, there were 173 followers and since I took over the account, it’s grown

to 192 followers. For the Twitter account, there were 92 followers and since I took over the

account, it’s grown to 117 followers. For this research I am not focused on the number of people

on Facebook because it is a group page and not an organizational page.

A competitor to Maxcy is Preston Residential College which is another living-learning residence

hall. Preston has more followers on both accounts with 259 followers on Instagram and 495

followers on Twitter. Even though they have more followers I’m not worried because Preston

has been around longer than Maxcy and started their social media accounts years in advance.

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On all the social media accounts, there is a link to the website and a short slogan that says,

“International House at Maxcy College: A place to live, a world to explore.” All the profile

pictures are appropriate for the accounts because they feature domestic and international

residents with various country flags in front of the residence hall.

On average, the Instagram account gets 18 likes per post and zero comments. Preston gets

around 21 likes per post on Instagram and zero comments as well. For Twitter, Maxcy gets on

average, one like per post and zero comments. There is no real engagement on Twitter. This is

the same for Preston as well.

The post that got the most likes on Instagram was one of the end-of-the-year pictures last

semester. This post had 45 likes. The reason this post received so many likes is because many

residents were represented in the picture and it was a final post wrapping up the semester.

The post below only received three likes. This post was to promote a diversity event in the

building. I believe this post didn’t get many likes because it was too heavy on advertising for an

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event. People like to see more pictures of what goes on in the community and this post was a

little generic. It’s best to use more visual photos on Instagram to promote something and this

post wasn’t the best way to accomplish that.

On Twitter and Instagram, the residence hall does not use hashtags. In general there are three to

five posts a week on Instagram and around one to three posts a day on Twitter. Overall, I think

this amount is enough for the residence hall.

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Primary Research Findings

Methodology

The following questionnaire was used for primary research in the residence hall and was

completed between Feb. 24 and 29.

Survey Question: The questionnaire allowed me to understand what online channels residents

use most while assessing building participation and how residents prefer to hear about news and

updates.

To obtain a gauging point and see the amount of student’s male or female completing the questionnaire.

1. What is your gender?

A. Male B. Female C. Other

Knowing student’s major is valuable information to assess the unique studies in the building while seeing which ones are most and least represented.

2. What is your major?

__________________

Analyze the class levels most and least represented in the building.

3. What is your classification?

A. Freshman B. Sophomore C. Junior D. Senior

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The building is made up of domestic and international student’s, so it’s important to know when one of them is taking the questionnaire because their perspectives are different. 4. Are you an international student?

A. Yes B. No

Assess how engaged residents are in the building this semester.

How many events have you attended in the building this semester?

A. 0 B. 1-3 C. 4-7 D. 8-11 E. More than 11

Observe which online channels residents frequent the most.

Which of these social media accounts do you check the most per day?

A. Facebook B. Twitter C. Instagram D. Email

Email is separate from social media so it’s important to recognize how much residents check this channel. In past semesters, many residents did not check their email. On average, how often do you check your email per day?

A. 0 B. 1-3 times C. 4-7 times D. 8-11 times E. More than 11 times

Note which platforms residents prefer to be informed so the staff can focus on communicating more often to those channels.

How do you prefer to hear about Maxcy events and update (check all that apply)?

A. Facebook B. Twitter C. Instagram D. Email E. Whiteboard F. Fliers

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Gauge which sites residents spend the most and least time on.

On average, how much time do you spend per day on the following social media sites?

Facebook

A. Less than 1 hour B. 1 – 2 hours C. 2 – 3 hours D. More than 3 hours E. I do not use Facebook

Twitter

A. Less than 1 hour B. 1 – 2 hours C. 2 – 3 hours D. More than 3 hours E. I do not use Twitter

Instagram

A. Less than 1 hour B. 1 – 2 hours C. 2 – 3 hours D. More than 3 hours E. I do not use Instagram

Assess what events residents are most and least likely to attend.

Which building event appeals to you the most and the least? (Rank 1-5)

A. Culinary demonstrations B. Language workshops C. Tea Time D. Academic conversations E. Social justice conversations F. Cultural nights/events

Obtain feedback on which building improvement appeals most to residents.

What community enhancement space would you like to see the most?

A. Prayer/meditations spaceB. LibraryC. Video game/entertainment loungeD. Music room

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Note which events residents would personally like to see in the community.

What event would you like to see that has not been done yet?

_________________

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Questionnaire Findings (Infographics)

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Whateventwouldyouliketoseethathasnotbeendoneyet?

• Paint night • Dance party • Group trip • Dodgeball • Black History Month event • Chinese language hour • Capture the Flag between all four floors • Karaoke • International food evening where every country cooks a dish • A dance evening of different kinds of dance • Foreign pop culture • A Maxcy Cook off • Latin dance night

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Majors represented in the questionnaire

• Business (10) • International Business (5) • Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (2) • Biology (2) • Journalism (2) • Accounting (2) • Music Education (2) • Psychology (2) • Pharmacy (1) • Electrical Engineering (1) • Public Relations (2) • Broadcast Journalism (2) • Nursing (1) • Anthropology (1) • International Studies (2) • Marketing (1) • English (2) • Sports Management (1) • Early Childhood Education (1) • Economics (1) • Finance (1) • Information Technology (1) • Media Arts (1)

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SWOT Analyses

International House at Maxcy

Strengths Weaknesses • Residence hall has a defined mission

and vision.• Maxcy is a unique living-learning

community that distinguishes itself from other residence halls.

• Strong ties to campus offices like the International Student Services and the Study Abroad Office.

• Residence hall has various forms of communication like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, a monthly newsletter, website, glass calendar and a whiteboard in the lobby.

• Several events going on every week that incorporate the living-learning component of the community.

• New programs and events like the Global Scholars program, a book club and a visiting faculty fellow.

• Website needs to be updated. • No one fully devoted to public

relations work in the residence hall. • Still a growing community because it

is only four years old. • Small reach on social media because

the accounts were created last year.

Opportunities Threats • Establish social media strategy that

aligns with the mission and vision of the house.

• Use social media to enhance the community’s online presence and increase the quality of the content posted online.

• Send a questionnaire to residents on what communication channels they check the most.

• YouTube channel to showcase the community to prospective international and domestic students.

• Even though it’s known as the International House, there are some residence halls like East Quad and South Quad that have a high number of international students. There’s a low number of international students in the residence hall this semester because of that.

• Getting residents to come and engage in events when there are others events on the same day or at the same time.

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Public Relations Campaign

Strengths Weaknesses • Weekly meetings with leadership team

about my campaign work. • Potential to create a framework for

future students doing public relations work for the residence hall.

• Using Hootsuite to schedule posts per week to save time and align with what’s in the social media strategy.

• Evaluate which communication channels are most and least effective in delivering news to residents in the building.

• First person doing public relations work for the residence hall so I’m essentially starting from the bottom.

• Being available to attend and document all the events that go on in the building every week.

• Staying focused on the campaign and trying to avoid doing tedious administrative work that’s not part of the campaign.

Opportunities Threats • Starting “Maxcy Profiles” on

Instagram to increase content quality and to differentiate the community from other residence halls.

• Posting a weekly “This Week at Maxcy” document on Facebook to keep residents in the know of everything going on in the building.

• Interviewing visiting fellows for YouTube or the website to showcase some of the unique scholars that come to the residence hall.

• Being overshadowed by other international offices like the International Student Services and the Study Abroad Office.

• Making sure people follow the residence hall’s correct Twitter username because there is another one that was never taken down.

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Analysis

My findings indicate that Facebook is the social media account used most by residents with a

62.3 percent majority, but residents are only on it for less than an hour. When it comes to

Twitter, most residents are not on the platform with 56.6 percent stating that they do not use

Twitter. With email, 37.3 percent of residents check it one to three times a day and 31.4 percent

check it four to seven times a day. When asked on the preferences of hearing about events and

updates, the top three communication channels were email, Facebook and the whiteboard in the

lobby. All this information is useful to my campaign and the building staff when it comes to

planning ways to communicate with residents.

Part of the questionnaire focuses on community engagement. From the data obtained, it is

evident that most residents are moderately engaged in building events with 49 percent attending

one to three events and 32 percent attending four to seven events this semester. Culinary

demonstrations and cultural nights are the two events that appeal most to residents while social

justice and academic conversations are the two events that appeal the least. Culinary

demonstrations and cultural nights are made for larger crowds which could be why they appeal

to a larger population while social justice and academic conversations are made for a more

intimate setting which is why the appeal could be lower.

Overall, the questionnaire allowed me to understand what online channels residents use the most

while assessing building participation and how residents prefer to hear about news and updates.

This data guides my public relations work and is something I can discuss with the Maxcy

leadership team.

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Limitations

While I had strong factual research that strengthened my campaign, I also considered the

limitations from this process. One of my main limitations was time. I wanted 50 percent of the

building to take the questionnaire but only around 40 percent ended up taking it. A larger sample

size for this research would make it stronger in the future.

I didn’t get as many international residents to complete the questionnaire as I wanted. I had 13

international students in the questionnaire and 41 domestic students. I was seeking for more of a

balance but this semester, there are many more domestic students than international students

which is why the data leaned more to a specific demographic.

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Works Cited

International House at Maxcy College. University Housing, 2015. 7 Feb. 2016

<http://housing.sc.edu/maxcy/>